5 verses · ~2 min
इस समाधि में छिपी हुई है, एक राख की ढेरी | जल कर जिसने स्वतंत्रता की, दिव्य आरती फेरी || यह समाधि यह लघु समाधि है, झाँसी की रानी की | अंतिम लीलास्थली यही है, लक्ष्मी मरदानी की ||
यहीं कहीं पर बिखर गई वह, भग्न-विजय-माला-सी | उसके फूल यहाँ संचित हैं, है यह स्मृति शाला-सी | सहे वार पर वार अंत तक, लड़ी वीर बाला-सी | आहुति-सी गिर चढ़ी चिता पर, चमक उठी ज्वाला-सी |
बढ़ जाता है मान वीर का, रण में बलि होने से | मूल्यवती होती सोने की भस्म, यथा सोने से || रानी से भी अधिक हमे अब, यह समाधि है प्यारी | यहाँ निहित है स्वतंत्रता की, आशा की चिनगारी ||
इससे भी सुन्दर समाधियाँ, हम जग में हैं पाते | उनकी गाथा पर निशीथ में, क्षुद्र जंतु ही गाते || पर कवियों की अमर गिरा में, इसकी अमिट कहानी | स्नेह और श्रद्धा से गाती, है वीरों की बानी ||
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुख हमने सुनी कहानी | खूब लड़ी मरदानी वह थी, झाँसी वाली रानी || यह समाधि यह चिर समाधि है , झाँसी की रानी की | अंतिम लीला स्थली यही है, लक्ष्मी मरदानी की ||
इति
The Poet
सुभद्राकुमारी चौहान
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
1904 · 1948
There is a moment in every liberation movement when the struggle finds the poem that becomes its most essential utterance, not because the poem is merely rhetorical, but because it crystallizes an emotion so precisely that an entire people recognize themselves inside it. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan provided such a moment with Jhansi Ki Rani, her electric account of the warrior queen of Jhansi. This poem was so concentrated in its energy and so clear in its moral architecture that generations of Indian schoolchildren have carried it inside them as something closer to memory than memorization. But to reduce Chauhan to a single poem would be a severe literary injustice. She was an active participant in the independence movement who walked the path of satyagraha herself, becoming one of the first women to be imprisoned for civil disobedience. She was a poet of domestic tenderness, exploring childhood and the complex inner life of Indian women that formal literature had largely chosen to ignore. Born in 1904, she died in a road accident in 1948 too soon and too abruptly. Her voice remained fully alive and deeply necessary. She gave the warrior women of Indian mythology a voice, and in doing so, she became one herself.
Paired Painting
Portrait of Rani Durgavati
Rani Durgavati stands as an immortal symbol of unflinching courage, self-respect, and righteous governance in Indian history. As the ruling queen of Gondwana, she administered her kingdom with immense wisdom and compassion, winning the deep devotion of her people. When faced with the formidable imperial might of the Mughal army under Asaf Khan, she chose to lead her forces from the front rather than submit to foreign domination. This evocative portrait captures her majestic spirit, balancing the delicate grace of her royal attire with the fierce, resolute gaze of a warrior who chose martyrdom over surrender.
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